


Heirs of Fame

by QueenOfCarrotFlowers



Series: Carrot's Canonverse Fics [17]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternative start to TFA, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Gay Ben Solo, M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-01-30 08:10:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21424996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfCarrotFlowers/pseuds/QueenOfCarrotFlowers
Summary: Captain Luke Dameron is sent by the Resistance on a top secret mission to obtain the map to Luke Skywalker, their last hope for winning the war against the First Order. When Luke is captured and meets a rogue Stormtrooper seeking to defect, he finds so much more than he was originally seeking.Includes art by Jessa.
Relationships: Finn/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Finn/Kylo Ren
Series: Carrot's Canonverse Fics [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1801360
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43
Collections: Finnlo-Focused Multiship Anthology 2019





	Heirs of Fame

**Author's Note:**

> There are other tags that I could have included but chose not to on order to protect a plot twist. I do not believe there is anything triggering related to this twist, however if you don't like plot twists go to the endnotes and I will spoil you.
> 
> Thanks a million to flypaper_brain for editing and being so supportive with this story. I couldn't have written it without her!
> 
> And thank you to Jessa for the beautiful artwork that appears at the end! I love having a visual of Luke Dameron and FN-2187 interacting at their first meeting, it makes my heart swell!

“Captain Dameron.”

“General Organa.”

Captain Luke Dameron of the Black Squadron wilted under the intense gaze of General Leia Organa. He knew the General, of course, he’d met with her many times since following his brother, Poe, from the New Republic Defense Fleet to the Resistance, and he’d even known her slightly growing up. She had visited Yavin 4 a few times when he was a child, and he had heard stories of the adventures she’d had alongside his mother during the Galactic Civil War. That was the time he thought of as _before_. Before he was born; before he’d been found abandoned on Kef Bir and adopted by the Damerons; before his mother had died of untreated Dantari flu, leaving him to be raised by his father and his older brother. The General - at that time she’d been Senator Organa - had attended Shara Bey’s funeral, but Luke had been two years old, and had only been with the family for a matter of months. He had no memory of the funeral, or of his mother. 

He was getting distracted; the General was speaking again, and he struggled to attend.

“You are aware that Commander Dameron has been selected to take part in a secret mission.”

Luke considered lying, but only briefly. The General’s gaze was intense and he was reminded that her brother, his namesake, Luke, was supposed to be a Jedi. Strong with the Force. Luke Dameron knew a few things, and one thing he knew was that he had no inclination for the Force, and another thing he knew was that General Leia Organa did.

“Yes, ma’am, I am aware of that.”

The General seemed unable to contain the almost-smile that barely turned up one corner of her mouth.

“I suspected. No secrets between brothers, is that right?”

“Very few, ma’am,” Luke replied honestly.

The other corner of her mouth turned up.

“That’s just as well. With the Commander’s recent accident, I’m afraid that he’s not in condition to take on that secret mission after all. We were very glad his injuries weren’t worse than they are, but even with bacta treatments that broken arm is enough to keep him down for at least another week, and we just don’t have that time.” She turned to face him directly. “I was hoping that you might be able to take his place.”

Luke found himself unable to breathe. “Ma’am? Are you sure?”

The turned corners of her mouth transformed into a real smile, accompanied by a raspy, genuine laugh.

“Yes, I’m sure! Captain Dameron, I have been watching your progress for years. You consistently perform above and beyond expectations, and your quick decision-making during our last skirmish was exemplary. Both Wexley and Pava came to me individually to compliment you, and that’s on top of the Commander himself.”

Luke’s cheeks burned and he worked very hard to control the grin that was threatening to take over his face. He had no idea his brother had approached the General about his performance on Megalox Beta.

“That’s a surprise for you, isn’t it, Captain Dameron.”

“It is indeed, ma’am.” 

He had been proud of how clear and controlled he’d been throughout the clash at the prison, but he hadn’t thought anyone else had noticed him; he was very used to being overlooked in favor of his older brother. Poe, the golden boy. His best friend and his strongest rival, the person he most looked up to even as he resented his popularity. Knowing that Poe had spoken up for him - and Snap and Jess, too, whom he considered competitors even though they reported to him - had his heart feeling light.

General Organa was still talking, and he worked to focus again.

“If you’re comfortable taking on this mission - and, make no mistake, this is an important one, perhaps the most vital one of the war so far - tell me now, so we can get you up to speed. If not,” she leveled her gaze, “tell me so, and we’ll find someone else to send instead.”

As though he would say _no_, as though he would miss this opportunity.

“Yes, ma’am. I would be honored to take over the mission.”

The General’s face broke into a smile once more. “Very good, I am glad to hear it. I’m certain we’ve made the right decision. Now, Captain Dameron: Have you ever been to Jakku?”

* * *

Luke Dameron hated Jakku.

During the day it was hot, and the sand blew across the village and got into everything. Luke wasn’t normally vain, but in the last year he’d grown his hair long and started wearing it in twists, which were easy enough to care for in the relative comfort of a space station but he worried about keeping his hair moisturized in the desert. A silly thing to worry about, but still he did. 

The people of Tuanul were all right; they were a Force-worshipping cult, but he knew that going into it. He hadn’t considered how they would be, a strange combination of closed and welcoming, but once they knew who he was and why he was there it was fine. They greeted him and his droid - well, Poe’s droid - BB-8 warmly, once he explained who he was looking for and why he was there; and they fed him surprisingly well, considering how desolate the planet appeared to be.

The sun had long since gone down, and Luke had retreated into one of the tents with one of the village leaders, an older man, bearded and gaunt, with a serious mien. His name was Lor San Tekka, and many years before he had been a collaborator of Luke Skywalker’s. 

The two men sat together on the ground in front of a fire. As part of the mission briefing General Organa had explained that San Tekka had assisted Luke and her son, Ben Solo, in traveling the galaxy to gather together objects and books related to the Jedi, from the beginning of time. Luke Skywalker had held onto the objects when he’d set up his academy, and presumably had taken them all with him after the academy was destroyed, his students killed by what had become the First Order. 

Luke Skywalker had survived the destruction, had sent his sister a message letting her know what had happened soon after the event, and then promptly disappeared. Luke Dameron’s mission was to find out where he’d gone, so the Resistance could bring him back to help them fight against the growing scourge of the First Order.

“This will begin to make things right,” San Tekka said, dropping a small leather sack into Luke’s palm and placing his hand over the younger man’s. “I've traveled too far, and seen too much, to ignore the despair in the galaxy. Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force.”

Luke held the object tightly in his hand, and nodded at the older man. “Well, because of you now we have a chance. The General's been looking for this for a long time.”

“The General?” San Tekka chuckled and shook his head. “To me, she's royalty.”

Luke thought about General Organa, how she held herself, and how everyone - including him - looked up to her, admired her. He had to agree with the cultist.

“She certainly is that.”

At that moment, BB-8 burst through the beaded curtain separating the interior of the hut from the quickly-cooling outdoors and rushed in, beeping frantically. It was bad news. 

Luke turned to San Tekka. “We've got company.”

They ran out of the hut together, and Luke raised the quadnoculars to his eyes, cursing them as they took just a moment to focus. First Order ships were clear on the horizon, several of them.

Luke turned to San Tekka, his heart in his throat. “You have to hide.”

“You have to leave,” San Tekka replied. When Luke paused, the older man pushed him. “Go!”

Luke was conflicted; his instinct was to stay and fight, to help the villagers. But with another push from the older man, he remembered his mission and hurried off, BB-8 on his heels. He rushed back towards his X-Wing, hidden behind a rock outcropping on the edge of the settlement. While he rushed past the tents that made up the village he could see the people arming themselves and taking position, facing the open land to the west of the village, where it would make most sense for the enemy ships to land.

“Come on BB-8! Hurry!” Luke yelled as he climbed into the cockpit, BB-8 close behind. He spared a quick glance behind them - the lights of the First Order ships were bright in the darkness as they landed on the other side of the village. He was just able to get the engines to whine to life when BB-8 beeped excitedly, followed immediately by an explosion that rocked the X-Wing. Luke glanced back again to see stormtroopers already charging the ship, firing haphazardly.

BB-8 beeped nervously as Luke grabbed the controls and fired at the ‘troopers, using the X-Wing’s drop-down antipersonnel blaster. They successfully knocked them down, but when Luke attempted to restart the engines they sputtered and died. He swore, jumped out of the cockpit and to the back of the ship, where he found that there was significant damage to the rear engine panel.

“We’re in trouble, Beeb,” he muttered to the droid as he knelt down and pulled the object out of the leather sack that Lor San Tekka had placed in his hand only a few minutes before. Without even being asked, BB-8 opened his multi-reader, and Luke placed the object in there. 

“You take this, it’s safer with you than it is with me. You get as far away from here as you can. Do you hear me?”

BB-8 beeped, and hesitated, but Luke was insistent.

“I’ll come back for you, I promise. Poe will never forgive me if I leave you behind, right? It’ll be fine. Now go!”

Luke ran back towards the village, where the battle between stormtroopers and villagers was now well underway. He didn’t look back to watch BB-8 roll away into the dark desert. Unsure exactly what he was doing, Luke made his way from building to building, using his blaster to fire at incoming ‘troopers as he was able. The battle was looking about even to Luke, but then his attention was drawn to a new craft - a shuttle, tall and imposing - that landed near the troop transport vehicles.

Luke crouched and watched as the shuttle craft door opened, and a figure strode down the gangplank. _A creature_, Luke thought, tall and broad, clad entirely in black. Wind and smoke blew around the figure as it made its way through the chaos towards where Lor San Tekka stood, strong despite his advanced age, in the middle of the tumult.

It was Kylo Ren, it must be. Luke had never seen him in person, although he’d seen holos of the man; the so-called Supreme Leader’s so-called master of the so-called Knights of Ren. Luke wasn’t sure the latter even existed, although this one clearly did. 

The pilot watched as Kylo Ren approached San Tekka, stopping just a step away from him. From that angle Luke could see the face of Kylo Ren’s mask, nestled under the hood of his cape; black and chrome, it reminded Luke of holos he’d seen of old Imperial soldiers. The two men conversed, although from so far away, Luke couldn’t hear anything of what they were saying.

He lost his breath when Kylo Ren suddenly took a step back and ignited his lightsaber - red and angry, spitting sparks and smoke - and then ripped it down across the old man’s body. San Tekka fell to the ground, and Luke couldn’t help himself; he cried out in anger, jumped out from behind the building where he’d been hiding and ran towards Kylo Ren. He aimed his blaster and fired, but instantly the black-clad man raised his hand and Luke froze; he could not move nor talk, his very blood was cold. The blaster bolt, too, froze in place, midway between the two men, straining and vibrating in mid-air.

Luke was unable to defend himself when stormtroopers grabbed him and dragged him past the frozen blaster bolt to present him to Kylo Ren. Once in place the stormtroopers patted him down, much more brutally than was technically necessary, removing all his weapons in the process. Luke was thankful that he had the forethought to give the object to the droid. It was what Poe would have done, so it’s what he did. He was going to try to channel his brother in this situation, but he was afraid he wasn’t going to be successful - Kylo Ren was large and terrifying, and he radiated malevolent energy. Still, Luke glared at him as angrily as he could, refusing to show his fear.

As Kylo Ren took a step closer Luke lifted his chin, and the firelight behind the other man suddenly flared and temporarily blinded him. He did his best to continue looking brave, and Kylo Ren’s head tilted to one side as he leaned forward. There was something about the gesture that Luke interpreted as genuine interest, but that couldn’t possibly be right. Just as quickly it was gone, Kylo Ren was standing straight again, and Luke was aware of a nudge on the edge of his consciousness.

The voice was deep and rich through the modulator of his mask, and it made Luke shiver. 

“The old man gave it to you.” It was a murmur, but spoken with knowledge; it wasn’t a guess. 

Luke wished more than anything that he had even a portion of Poe’s bravado; at this point he’d say something clever, make a smart comment about how it was hard to understand the other man through the apparatus of his mask, but he had none of that. For better or for worse, Luke was not like his brother.

Kylo Ren moved closer to Luke, and without a word - and to Luke’s great shock and to the apparent surprise of the stormtroopers around them - he reached out and laid a hand on Luke’s head, pressing so his fingertips slipped between Luke’s twists. Luke flinched his head away with an annoyed growl, and Kylo Ren shifted so both his hands were pressed into Luke’s sides, as though to search him. But his hands were gentle and large, and the leather of his gloves was warm, and Luke exclaimed _woah!_ before the dark-clad man seemed to come to himself; he pulled his hands back as though burned, and nodded to the stormtroopers, who finished the pat down much more roughly.

“Nothing, sir,” said the lead stormtrooper, stepping back.

“Put him on board,” Kylo Ren instructed, and Luke’s heart dropped into his stomach. Luke could feel the darksider watching him as he was dragged away by a couple of stormtroopers, struggling, but not nearly as hard as he knew Poe would struggle.

They passed another stormtrooper on their way to the ship, a tall soldier clad in chrome-plated armor and a red shoulder cape. Luke was concentrating on controlling his own fear, but the sound of screams and blaster fire behind him drew his attention back to the village just as he was being pulled onboard. With a burst of strength, he cried out and pulled out of the grasp of his guards, turning around and taking three steps before they grabbed him again and dragged him back and onto the ship. In that time he was able to make out a line of stormtroopers shooting into the crowd of villagers, the villagers falling to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. In the flurry of blaster fire his attention was drawn to one stormtrooper who, although he held his blaster out as the other ones did, did not fire it. Luke found himself curious about that one, and he thought about him even after he was roughly dragged away from the ship’s door. Soon after there was a solid hit on the back of his head, and he remembered nothing more.

* * *

FN-2187 was seriously flustered after the battle at Tuanul. “Battle” they had called it - more like a slaughter. He’d seen one of his friends killed before his own eyes - the soldier’s bloody handprint now decorated his helmet - but it was the way the ‘troopers had ruthlessly shot the villagers that bothered him the most. He’d been unable to participate in the butchery, and Kylo Ren had known it; he’d seen the dark leader watching him, just before he got back on his ship, along with the Resistance pilot. Kylo wouldn’t be happy, but he also wouldn’t be surprised. 

FN-2187 and Kylo Ren knew each other well, and had for years, since soon after the leader of the Knights of Ren joined the First Order and the stormtrooper had caught his attention in early training. But they spoke only in the dark, when all they wore was their own skin, and they called each other by different names. Sometimes they didn’t speak at all. The man called Kylo Ren had said things in the darkness, at the height of pleasure; things that the man called FN-2187 was certain he didn’t mean and forgot as soon as he said. FN-2187 didn’t forget; he held them close to his heart, but when Kylo Ren gazed at him from behind his mask across the field on Jakku, FN-2187 was afraid. 

Captain Phasma had noticed, too. After they returned to the Finalizer, FN-2187 had been ordered to submit his blaster for inspection, and from there had been sent to Reconditioning. It was his first official offense, his first sign of non-conformity, as far as anyone knew. 

He wasn’t going to Reconditioning. One of the soldiers in his division had been through it and she’d come out of the process a different person; although they hadn’t been close they had been friendly, and she hadn’t even recognized him. FN-2187 was terrified of losing himself, and of losing his memories of - his connection with - the man who everyone called Kylo Ren. The very thought made his stomach churn. That man was too important to forget.

Eventually Phasma would discover that he’d skipped his reconditioning, though, and then he’d be in even more trouble. He couldn’t stay. Even if he managed not to get into deeper trouble he could not continue to serve the First Order in good conscience, which meant he would continue to disobey orders, and that would catch up with him sooner or later. He had to leave. Thoughts of Kylo Ren floated to the surface of his mind, and he pushed them down; whatever _that_ was, despite his feelings and his desire to hold the memories they shared, it wasn’t enough to make him stay. Kylo didn’t care anyway, not really. So instead he tried to come up with a plan. If he could make it off the ship and to a planet he could conceivably find a way to the Outer Rim, where he could disappear, make his own name, become his own person, unconnected with the First Order or with anyone else at all.

But first he had to make it off the ship, and in order to make it off the ship he needed a sympathetic pilot. Luckily he knew exactly where to find one.

* * *

Luke Dameron awoke shackled to a chair in a dark room, a tall man clad in his own darkness kneeling on the floor on the other side of the room. As Luke watched the man stood and walked towards him in a manner that was oddly tentative, finally standing over him. The man stared down at him, his head held at the same tilt as when he had regarded Luke on the planet. Luke stared right back at him, hoping he looked sufficiently confident. He did not, in fact, feel very confident - he was terrified - but he didn’t want to let that show. He was, however, angry, and perhaps that would make up for the other things he lacked.

“Where are you from?” Kylo Ren’s modulated voice was quiet and expressed interest and curiosity; the question threw Luke off completely.

“Where am I _from_? I’m from the Resistance. I thought you knew that.”

Kylo Ren shook his head slightly and bent closer

“I mean, what planet are you from.” 

Luke had no idea what was going on. He glanced around the room. Was he dreaming? Was this some kind of practical joke? Had they dosed him with truth serum? Aside from his battered face, he felt fine.

There was a nudge, at the corner of his mind, and Luke remembered the stories he’d heard, of the mind-reading facilities of the Jedi and other Force users. Perhaps there was truth to the rumors after all.

“Kef Bir,” Luke responded; he saw no reason to lie about so simple a thing. “But I was taken away when I was a baby, and raised on Yavin IV.”

“You have a brother, I think,” Kylo Ren said quietly, and Luke scoffed.

“Yes, thank you. That’s Poe. Nobody lets me forget it.”

“Poe,” Kylo Ren repeated, taking a step back, another nudge in Luke’s head. “The best pilot in the Resistance. Not you. Interesting.” He shook his head again, and said with more confidence, “The map.”

With the mention of the map Luke felt like he was on more solid ground. He’d expected to be asked about it, and steeled himself for the questioning to come.

“I’m not going to tell you about the map,” Luke insisted, trying to get ahead. 

“Where is it?” Kylo Ren asked, ignoring his comment. 

“The Resistance will not be intimidated by you.” 

Kylo Ren did not reply to that, instead he lifted one glove-clad hand and reached out to him. Luke could feel it stronger now, the nudging against his mind. Not painful, exactly, but unpleasant, like being forced to undress in front of a group of strangers. Luke flinched, and did his best to hide his thoughts; how he’d taken the object from Lor San Tekka, hidden it in BB-8, and then sent the droid away before it could be captured. He tried, but he didn’t know how, and his untrained mind was no match for Kylo Ren’s powers. However, it was clear that Kylo Ren was easily distracted.

“Yavin IV,” he mumbled, gloved hand almost touching Luke’s cheek. He said it softly, almost reverently. “There is an Uneti tree. You used to climb it as a child. Your mother… gone.” His voice hardened. “General Leia Organa. You feel like she’s the mother you never knew. Just wait; she’ll disappoint you eventually.”

“Get out of my head!” Luke cried out, but he was defenseless against the onslaught, and Kylo Ren continued the quiet ransack of his memories. 

“Do you remember before? Do you remember?” The darksider whispered it as though to himself, and Luke could sense that he was trying to reach a part of him that he himself wasn’t aware of; memories he’d long forgotten, or never even had. Luke had no idea what Kylo Ren was unearthing as he plundered his mind, but it made him weep, tears streaming down his cheeks and dripping from his chin. It might not physically hurt him but it was still painful.

“Please,” he begged, “Please stop. I don’t know anything, anything at all.”

Before Kylo Ren could reply they were interrupted by a knock on the door, and the man closed the space between his hand and Luke’s face, gently wiping his tears before walking out the door and leaving him alone. 

Two stormtrooper guards came in a few seconds later. Luke had absolutely no idea what had just happened.

* * *

FN-2187 made his way to the cell where the Resistance pilot was being held. He’d seen him on Jakku, just enough to make out his dark skin and his twisted hair, and he’d admired the way he’d stood up to Kylo Ren, fired his blaster at him. He’d heard the man had been questioned by Kylo Ren himself, and he wondered how that had gone. There were murmurs amongst the 'troopers about screams of pain, and FN-2187 hated to think about that but also knew it was probably true. He knew that fingertips soft for one person were not always soft for anyone else.

With a fortifying breath he entered the cell with as much confidence as he could. “Ren wants the prisoner,” he declared, and the other two nodded as he released the pilot from the chair, placed shackles around his wrists, and pulled him to standing. He grabbed the pilot’s arm and turned him toward the door, and it was only then that he had a good look at the other man’s face. FN-2187 gasped and turned away again quickly, staring straight ahead, doing his best to maintain his composure and wondering what would happen when he took off his helmet, and the other man would be able to see his face, too.

In the meantime he did what he must, leading the pilot roughly, his blaster pressed against the man’s body. FN-2187 was worried, but he needed the man to trust him so he would do what he must. Together they walked down several passageways, closer and closer to the hangar, until finally FN-2187 saw their chance. 

“Turn here,” he said gruffly, turning them down a narrow passageway, and then into an opening, like a small closet, halfway down. He pressed the other man against the wall, and lowered his weapon. 

“Listen carefully. You do exactly as I say, I can get you out of here.”

The pilot stared at him, confused. “If… what?”

It was now or never. FN-2187 reached up and pulled off his helmet. The pilot gasped, and swore under his breath.

“Well, shit. What the hell.”

FN-2187 refused to be distracted. “This is a rescue, I’m helping you escape. Can you fly a TIE fighter?”

The man was still staring at him, confused. “Wait, you want to rescue me? Why? Because of…” and he gestured between them. 

FN-2187 shook his head, frustrated. “I didn’t know, when I went to get you. I didn’t know. It doesn’t matter. Can you fly a TIE fighter?”

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter! Of course it matters! Have you ever looked in a mirror?”

“Look,” FN-2187 said, stepping closer to the pilot, “we don’t have time for this. Do you want to escape? I want to help you. Now, tell me _please_ \- can you fly a TIE fighter, or not?”

“I think I can, if it’s anything like an X-Wing, I probably can. Why are you helping me? Are you with the Resistance?” The pilot narrowed his eyes; it was an unfamiliar expression, and FN-2187 briefly wondered if he would look just like that, were he to attempt the same movement. 

“What? No,” FN-2187 insisted. “No I’m breaking you out. Because,” he paused, looking for the appropriate words, the words that would convince the man to trust him, “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

The pilot’s eyes widened, and the corner of his mouth turned up, and with this small gesture FN-2187 felt known, in a way he hadn’t before, not even in Kylo Ren’s arms.

“You need a pilot, don’t you.”

“I need a pilot.”

The pilot’s face broke into a smile, a heroic kind of smile, bright and breathtaking. FN-2187 had never seen himself smile, and he was positive that no matter how he might look like this man, he could never, ever smile like that.

“Then I’m your pilot.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Let’s go!” And he hopped back out into the passageway, leaving FN-2187 to pull on his helmet and scramble behind him, holding him tight and pressing the blaster against him once more.

As they made their way into the hangar, FN-2187 considered why it might be that he and the pilot looked so much alike. It was more than basic similarities - when FN-2187 looked at the pilot, he felt as though he was looking into a confident mirror. They’d always been told the First Order had done away with cloning technology, but there didn’t seem to be any other option. 

* * *

As they walked through the hangar, the stormtrooper’s hand tight around his arm and his blaster pushing into his side uncomfortably, Luke wondered what the heck was going on.

The stormtrooper looked like him, looked _exactly_ like him. And there was only one way that could be possible. Wasn’t there? The days of cloning were long past, after all.

“Okay, stay calm, stay calm,” his voice - Luke’s voice, he recognized it now as a variant of his own - came mumbling through the white mask that now covered the other man’s face.

“I’m working on it,” he mumbled back, both annoyed and thankful.

“Uh, I’m talking to myself,” the voice replied, and all Luke could do was smile. This guy. 

His brother? Another brother? A _real_ brother?

He scolded himself for having such a thought. Poe was his real brother, of course. 

Luke was getting distracted again, and forced himself to pay attention to what was happening around him. The stormtrooper had walked them all the way across the hangar, to a wall full of TIE Fighters. The ‘trooper glanced around and then let them quickly into the closest TIE, dropping himself into the back cockpit, leaving Luke to take the lead. 

He heard the other man remove his helmet and drop it to the floor as he shrugged off his jacket, letting it slip down on the seat behind him. He took a glance across the control panel, which looked familiar. Very familiar - did the same company build the TIE fighters as built the X-Wing? Luke really didn’t want to think about that too hard, so instead he focused on firing up the ship, flipping the switches and turning the knobs that would make their escape possible.

Poe would be excited, and a little jealous, to hear about this; he’d always wanted to fly a TIE. Luke just hoped he’d be able to get them out alive so he could tell the tale.

“Can you shoot?” he shouted over his shoulder to the ‘trooper.

“Blasters, I can!”

“Okay, so it’s similar. Use the toggle on the left to switch between missiles, cannons, and mag pulse. Use the sight on the right to aim, and triggers to fire. Got it?”

“This is very complicated!” The ‘trooper’s voice was nervous but there wasn’t time - Luke pushed the TIE forward but it stopped suddenly.

“Kriff!” Luke shouted, pushing down the panic. “We’re tethered! I didn’t know we’d be tethered!”

“I didn’t know either!” the ‘trooper shouted angrily, and Luke took a deep breath.

“Okay, I can fix this. Just give me a minute.”

As the TIE tugged at the tether and Luke worked to break the connection, he was aware of blasts firing around them, and of the 'trooper firing back. 

“Woohoo! I got the Control Room!” 

Luke saw the explosion out of his rear cameras just as the connection broke between the TIE and the tether, and Luke aimed for the door and got them out immediately, the 'trooper continuing to blast away behind them.

The speed of the TIE was impressive, and the g-force pressed Luke back hard against his seat.

“Wooooahhhh, this thing really moves! My brother would love it.”

“You got a brother?”

Even with the adrenaline, Luke felt strange answering the question. He wanted to answer ‘yeah, you,’ but thought better of it.

“Yeah, older brother. Poe - he’s the best pilot in the Resistance. Anyway, we gotta take out as many cannons as we can or we’re not getting out of here.”

“Got it. If you get us into position, I’ll shoot.”

Luke arced the TIE Fighter back, diving down and around the ship, until they were flying along the ship’s belly.

“Up ahead, you see it? I’ve got us dead centered, it’s a clean shot.”

The 'trooper took out several cannons in a row with a series of blaster shots, and both men shouted.

“Did you see that?” The ‘trooper yelled. “Did you see?”

“I saw it, that was great! Hey, what’s your name?”

“FN-2187.”

Of course, he should have known his name would be a number. It brought new heaviness to Luke’s already-heavy stomach. He couldn’t even bring himself to respond.

“That’s my designation number, I don’t really have a name. My friend calls me ‘Seven’ but…”

“I’m not calling you ‘Seven’, that’s not a name,” Luke replied, more angrily than he meant to. “What do you want me to call you?”

They continued to fly and fire on the cannons, dodging the shots coming from a fleet of TIE Fighters, who came up just as they were circling around to make another pass.

“Ask me again if we survive this! What’s your name?”

“Luke. Luke Dameron.”

They pulled right, then left, as Seven blasted another TIE. Luke’s brain helpfully filled in the label; he was probably his brother, after all, and he needed to think of him as something besides ‘the Stormtrooper’.

“Luke. Like Luke Skywalker?”

“That’s right.” Another blast. “Named after him. He was a friend of my mom’s.”

“Named after him. Huh.” 

They blasted the last cannon, and then Luke was comfortable pulling away from the large ship, and he made a big turn back toward Jakku.

The TIE Fighters followed, and as Seven continued firing on them, he swore loudly.

“What is it?” Luke asked, his eyes straight ahead on the desert planet below. “What’s wrong?”

“Another ship. Kriff and kriff and kriff.” He sounded a very particular kind of unhappy - not frightened, but hurt, and Luke glanced into the monitor so he could see what Seven saw.

It was similar to a TIE Fighter, but had very particular styling, with long, sharp wings that pointed towards them as it arced away from the larger ship and quickly passed the other TIEs.

Luke had never seen anything like it. 

“What is that thing?” 

“It’s Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer,” Seven answered, even more unhappily. “I don't understand what he's doing!”

“Kylo Ren! Why the kriff is Kylo Ren following us?”

Seven didn’t have a chance to respond before a blast shot out from one of the pursuing TIE Fighters, aimed squarely at them. It would have hit them, too, if the TIE Silencer hadn’t intervened and taken the force of the blast in its left wing. It was knocked aside, and Seven was able to take out the three TIE Fighters that were still in pursuit. Luke watched as the other ship spun towards the planet, and he was preparing to set his own course back to the village, to begin the search for BB-8, when Seven cried out from behind him.

“Follow him! Follow that ship! He’s going to crash, we need to follow him!”

“Follow him?” Luke asked, incredulous even as he changed their direction. “Why the kriff do we want to follow _him_? He’s evil! Let him die!”

“He’s not… he’s… kriff,” the other voice replied, miserable, sounding so much like Luke himself that he cringed. “You remember I said that I have one friend who calls me ‘Seven’?”

“... yeah.” Luke didn’t like where this was going.

“Well,” he replied sadly, “That friend? Is Kylo Ren.”

His look-alike maybe-brother 'trooper was friends with kriffing _Kylo Ren_? No wonder he was so unhappy.

* * *

**Twenty minutes earlier**

Kylo Ren stalked onto the main bridge of the Finalizer. He’d felt a disturbance in the Force - something very close - and he wanted to see if what he was sensing aligned with what was happening, and if so, what was being done about it.

Hux - the general; not nearly as competent as he thought he was, and annoying besides - was looking at a console over the shoulder of one of the lieutenants.

“Use the ventral cannons,” Hux ordered.

“Yes, sir. Bringing them online.”

Hux turned around to find Kylo Ren already standing right behind him, and Ren took pleasure in the shock that danced across his pinched features before he schooled his face back to its usual sour expression. 

“General Hux,” Kylo Ren boomed. “Is it the Resistance pilot?” Not just a pilot, no. He’d seen his face, and then seen the man’s memories. He knew _exactly_ who the pilot was, and what he meant to Seven. 

Hux sneered before he replied. 

“Yes, and he had help. From one of our own.”

Kylo’s premonition was correct; they were out there together. Together, and without him. Brothers. Seven was the closest thing he had to a brother, to a friend, and now he had found another. A flash of jealousy flared up behind his eyes, and he quickly tamped it down. He was very thankful - not for the first time - that he wore a mask.

Hux was still talking. “We’re checking the registers now to identify which Stormtrooper it was.”

“FN-2187,” Kylo Ren said, interrupting him.

“Excuse me?” Hux replied, clearly unnerved.

“Seven.” Ren said, before turning on his heel and rushing back off the main bridge, and toward the secondary hangar where his TIE Silencer was kept.

Kylo had known that Seven wasn’t happy with the First Order, and that Seven had dreamed of leaving - leaving with him, escaping, so they could be together somewhere. He’d never said as much, but sometimes when he was sleeping, Kylo would peek. He felt terribly guilty about it - Seven had told him in no uncertain terms that he was never to use any of his “Jedi magic” on him - his words, not Kylo’s. But Kylo had, and he knew, and knowing how Seven felt about him had made him happy; it made him feel secure. He’d always figured that someday, one of them would work up the nerve to talk about it. Kylo thought they’d have time. He thought they’d talk about it, and that when it was time that he’d be able to make a choice. He’d never dreamed that Seven would just up and leave without him - leave with someone else. Red flickered along the edges of his vision like the sparks of his lightsaber and his heart pulled in on itself as he held back tears. 

He needed to get Seven... and then? He had no idea. He wouldn’t bring him back. Kylo was making his choice _now_, and there was only one choice - it was Seven over the First Order. It was always going to be that way. But what if Seven wanted to stay with the other one? Luke, his name was. _Luke_, named after Luke Skywalker, it made Kylo ill to think about it. His name was _Luke_. He was with the Resistance. He knew Leia Organa. He was Seven’s brother. Kylo was afraid of leaving the First Order but more afraid of losing Seven, wherever he was. Did Seven want to be with him? He’d left him, after all. Left him to go with Luke. But still… it was unclear. He needed to _know,_ andhe needed to get him. But getting to him involved desertion.

These were the thoughts swirling through Ren’s mind as he rushed the corridors and into the secondary hangar, abandoning his helmet and top coat, hood, and scarf, scattering them on the ground around his ship. After a moment’s thought he removed the tunic as well, but picked the scarf up and draped it around his shoulders. He checked his lightsaber, hooked tightly to his belt as usual. Then he climbed into his ship, disconnected the tether, and rushed out to join the fight.

* * *

As the TIE Silencer hurtled towards the ground below them, Luke watched the escape pod shoot out of the body of the ship and plunge planetwards, making a direct line towards what appeared to be a range of hills, off to the east of where they were coming down. 

“His escape pod’s left the ship,” he said back to Seven, “I assume he’s in it so I’m following it down. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” the man said, sounding even more miserable than he had before.

They’d be on the ground in a few minutes, but the silence made Luke uncomfortable. He sensed that his probably-twin wasn’t ready to discuss the possible reasons behind their obvious similarities, and he wasn’t really ready either, so that really only left one topic of conversation.

“So, what do you want me to call you? I was rude about ‘Seven,’ I can call you Seven if you want.”

“I don’t really like Seven,” he replied, “that’s just what he calls me. I like the idea of coming up with my own name.” He was quiet for a moment. “I once thought about asking him to call me ‘Finn’ - like FN but a little different, you know?”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know. But can you call me that?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll call you Finn. Hey, Finn.”

Finn’s answering chuckle ended with a sigh. “Anyway, I never thought about a second name. People have second names, don’t they?”

“Some people,” Luke confirmed. “Usually it’s a family name, like a name you get from your parents. Dameron is my father’s name, so both Poe - my brother - and I have that name. Or it can be from a talent, something you’re good at, or your job.”

“I don’t have a family.” 

Luke wanted to contradict him, tell him that _of course_ he has a family; he has a twin brother and he’s sitting right here. But Finn didn’t seem very happy about that fact and Luke was okay putting off that conversation, considering the situation. He was still talking anyway.

“And I’m not really good at anything. I’m leaving the First Order - I’m never going back. Are there other people who’ve left? They don’t teach us about that in Stormtrooper training.”

“Well, sure,” Luke answered, thinking of the names of people he’d known or heard about or read about as the ship broke the atmosphere. “There have been plenty of Imperial defectors over history. Let’s see. There’s Alexsandr Kallus, he was a spy in the formative days of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. And Sinjir Velus, he defected after the Battle of Endor and worked with Norra Wexley. Uh, she’s the mother of one of the pilots on my team.”

“Huh,” Finn said, and maintained a thoughtful silence until they were on the ground.

What Luke had thought were hills were actually sand dunes, and the escape pod had managed to embed itself at the base of one of them. It took both of them, him and Finn, to pull it out far enough to open the compartment and take a look inside. 

Luke was shocked to find that inside the pod, Kylo Ren was unmasked. He’d seen blurry photos of the man - dark hair, pale face - but his youth was undeniable, and he lay in the pod like a princess in a coffin in an old Yavin fairy tale. He was asleep, or passed out, or something - anyway, his eyes were closed - and Luke stepped back to give Finn space to lean down and attend to him.

The armor-clad man murmured as he patted Kylo Ren’s cheeks, crouched low and attempted to lift him up behind his shoulders. Kylo Ren was slowly coming to, and he groaned as he started to sit up. He finally opened his eyes and they were tender as they gazed up at Finn - tender and pained.

“You left me, Seven,” he sobbed, tenderness giving way to sadness and anger, teeth clenched and tears in his eyes. “You left me up there. Why did you leave me?”

“Finn,” the 'trooper replied, and Kylo Ren’s eyebrows drew together in confusion, thrown off by the deflection.

“What?”

“My name. Finn, call me Finn. Finn Kallus.”

“Finn Kallus?” Kylo Ren said the name, but he wasn’t upset. It sounded like he was trying on a new shirt and he wasn’t sure it was the right size. “_Kallus_? Like Alexsandr Kallus? The _spy_? You want to name yourself after a spy?”

“There are much worse things I could name myself after. And anyway, what were you doing? You could have been killed!”

Luke was impressed with Finn’s spirit, but Kylo didn’t even blink, he just reached his arms out so Finn could help him out of the pod. Finn wrapped Kylo’s arm around his own neck and pulled him to standing. At a gesture from Finn, Luke walked around and gingerly helped Kylo Ren step out of the pod and onto the sandy ground, where he immediately slipped and fell into a pile with a cry. 

He gazed back up at Finn from his position on the ground, the sun bright across his face, and he squinted under the power of its glow. He howled, "I came after you because you left. Why did you _leave_?”

Kylo Ren was certainly not what Luke Dameron was expecting. Avoiding Luke’s eyes, Finn sat himself down next to the sobbing knight and pulled his head into his lap.

“I left because I had to, Ben, I've been thinking about it for so long. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I couldn’t stay, I had the opportunity. I needed a pilot, and here was one I could trust to get me away.”

“_I’m_ a pilot!” Kylo Ren - Ben? - whined as he wrapped his arms around the other man’s middle, his hands squeaking against the hard, shiny surface of the white armor. 

Luke was running out of time. He could give or take Kylo Ren, but Finn… he really didn’t want to leave Finn. But he _had_ to find BB-8, and the map. It was what he’d been sent to do, and he wasn’t going to let the Resistance down - he wasn’t going to let down General Organa, either, or Poe.

“Hey, uh, this is very… heartwarming, but I have a droid I need to find.” Luke glanced down at Kylo, wrapped around Finn’s middle. “If I leave you here, are you guys going to be okay? I can come back for you, once I get the droid to the Resistance. It might take a couple of days.” 

“No!” Kylo Ren shouted, suddenly attentive. He let go of Finn and sat up straight, holding Luke in his gaze. His eyes were a strange shade of brown, light, the color of a sweet substance that he’d had once on Crucival, thick and sticky. But they held authority, even shining with tears, and Luke found himself standing straighter under the man’s gaze.

“We’ll come with you. Help you get that droid, take him to the Resistance.”

“Ben,” Finn pleaded. “Ben, really, please…”

“Uh,” Luke interjected, “Kylo… Ren. Sir...” This man was his enemy - one of the biggest enemies of the Resistance. He should just shoot him, as he’d tried to shoot him the day before, not very far from where they were now. He had surprise on his side. But he couldn’t, and he didn’t know if it was because of Finn’s fondness for the man or for the feeling he had that he’d seen him somewhere before. The more time he spent in his presence, the more familiar he felt. Why?

“We could get a ship and go to the Outer Rim, disappear,” Finn interrupted, not paying attention to Luke at all, “We don’t have to go to the Resistance…”

“We should. _I_ should.” Kylo Ren tugged on the scarf that was draped across his neck. “Trying to run is delaying the inevitable. We’ve both deserted the First Order already, so now is the best time to throw ourselves at the mercy of the enemy.”

“They’ll kill you,” Luke finally got out what he’d been wanting to say since the conversation began. “Not you, Finn, especially because,” and he gestured between them, “but Kylo Ren? They’ll kill him before he can raise his hands in surrender.” Not that he cared. 

“They won’t kill me,” Kylo Ren said confidently, “Not if I show up with my arms held high in surrender, in the company of a trusted Resistance hero carrying the map to Luke Skywalker, and throw myself at the mercy of my mother.”

A sudden breeze blew Kylo’s words up and around Luke’s head, and he was positive he hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Your mother?"

His own confusion was mirrored by Finn. "What?"

Kylo Ren tilted his head and gazed up at him, and Luke understood why he looked familiar. He had his mother’s eyes, and his father’s build - although he was much larger than both of them. And he had the Skywalker energy.

And Finn had called him _Ben_.

Luke’s head suddenly felt very light. “You’re Ben Solo.”

"Who?" Finn said, looking between the two of them. 

Kylo Ren nodded and scrunched his face in embarrassment, staring at the ground as he scuffed at the sand with the heel of his boot.

Luke pressed forward. “But… but Ben Solo died, at Luke’s academy.” 

Kylo chuckled. “Obviously not, since here I am."

Finn huffed in frustration. "But who are you? Ben?"

Kylo took pity on Finn and pulled him into another embrace.

"I'm the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I don't think anybody knows."

"Everyone in the Resistance thinks you're dead," Luke offered. "It'll be a shock for you to show up now."

Kylo shook his head.

"My mother knows I'm alive. So my father should, too. And… yes. Anyway, that’s what we’ll do. Either the Resistance will kill me or they won’t, and either way Finn will be safe. That’s all that matters now. Okay?”

Finn looked like he wanted to ask questions or argue. But the look that Kylo gave him - paired with a thumb across his cheek that reminded Luke of how he’d wiped his tears off, following his odd interrogation - shut him right up.

Finn shrugged. “I still don’t see why they’d value my life at all, just because I’m a clone of one of their pilots. Maybe if I join them, give them information they won’t kill me immediately...”

“You’re brothers.” Kylo’s voice muttered low between them.

“What did you say?” Finn asked him, and pushed him with his elbow. “Don’t tease, Ben.”

“I’m not teasing!” He looked up first at Finn, and then over to Luke. “I saw his memories, during the interrogation,” he nodded at Luke. “I saw you, S… Finn. He doesn’t remember, but the memories are there. Kef Bir. There must have been an attack, one of the… anyway. You were hidden separately, and you” - he pointed at Finn - “were found, but you” - he pointed to Luke “were not. I suppose some time later you were orphaned and adopted. Right?”

Luke nodded. 

“So there you go,” Kylo said, standing up and patting the golden sand off his black trousers. “Brothers.” 

He took Finn’s hand in his own and started walking towards the TIE Fighter, resting in the sand several meters away, and Luke followed them. The two in front murmured together as they walked, speaking quietly with their heads close together, until there was a sudden and mighty _whumph_ and the sand beneath the ship shifted and then collapsed, the ground swallowing the ship whole in a matter of seconds.

The three stood in silence together for several moments before Kylo Ren started yelling. Finn stepped back and Luke followed his lead, and they sat together in the sand under the shade of Luke’s jacket, and watched while Kylo Ren had a tantrum. The man shook his fists and yelled, and then he drew his lightsaber - red, spitting, angry, just like him - and used it to carve up the escape pod before attempting to do the same to the nearest sand dune. It didn’t work out very well, although Kylo Ren did his very best.

Eventually he was spent, and he turned off the saber and reclipped it to his belt, finally falling heavily to his knees. Luke stayed where he was, but Finn went over to him and gave him a hug. They spoke quietly together for a few minutes before Finn walked back over to Luke.

“There’s an outpost to the west, Ben says it’s close enough to walk. We’ll be there before the sun sets. There’ll be water and food and maybe a ship.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “We don’t have any money, but with him we don’t really need any.”

“What, he’ll threaten to kill them?”

Finn looked uncomfortable. “No, gosh no.” He pointed to his own forehead. “Jedi mind control.”

Luke shivered, remembering the threads in his own head only hours before. “Yeah, I think I’ve experienced something like that.”

Finn threw him an apologetic glance, and turned back to Kylo Ren. He was kneeling on the ground, eyes closed, breathing deeply; he seemed to have not only regained control of himself, but moved into a meditative state. They watched him in silence, and after a few moments he stood, wrapped the scarf all the way around his head, leaving only his eyes visible, and walked back to them. 

“That way,” he said, pointing off in a direction and beginning the march. “I can feel it that way.”

“What do you feel?” 

He didn’t pause, only gazed with determination and strode with steady steps off into the desert.

“Lots of things," he called back to them. "Something… someone… the future.”

His voice was strong as the wind carried it back to the brothers, stumbling to catch up. 

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler: Finn and Luke Dameron are twins, they were separated when they were babies.
> 
> The title is from "Homer's Hymn To Castor And Pollux" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
> 
> Ye wild-eyed Muses, sing the Twins of Jove,  
Whom the fair-ankled Leda, mixed in love  
With mighty Saturn’s Heaven-obscuring Child,  
On Taygetus, that lofty mountain wild,  
Brought forth in joy: mild Pollux, void of blame,  
And steed-subduing Castor, heirs of fame.  
These are the Powers who earth-born mortals save  
And ships, whose flight is swift along the wave.  
When wintry tempests o’er the savage sea  
Are raging, and the sailors tremblingly  
Call on the Twins of Jove with prayer and vow,  
Gathered in fear upon the lofty prow,  
And sacrifice with snow-white lambs,--the wind  
And the huge billow bursting close behind,  
Even then beneath the weltering waters bear  
The staggering ship--they suddenly appear,  
On yellow wings rushing athwart the sky,  
And lull the blasts in mute tranquillity,  
And strew the waves on the white Ocean’s bed,  
Fair omen of the voyage; from toil and dread  
The sailors rest, rejoicing in the sight,  
And plough the quiet sea in safe delight.
> 
> And here they are, babies separated as babies and finally meeting! Thank you Jessa, I love it so <3 <3 <3
> 
>   



End file.
